In the exciting Indian Premier League (IPL), young energy has often been the key to winning. As the league grew, teams saw that young players could be great leaders, even though it wasn’t what people expected.
These new captains showed how cricket was changing and how good leadership, no matter how old you are, can help teams win in the tough IPL matches.
Let’s see five of the youngest cricketers who became captains in the IPL
1. Virat Kohli – 22 years and 187 days
IPL star Virat Kohli first became captain in 2011 when the regular captain, Daniel Vettori, got injured. Kohli was just 22 years old at the time. He led his team to a big win. Before that, in 2008, he showed his leadership skills by winning the Under-19 World Cup for India. Because of his strong leadership, RCB made him the permanent captain for IPL 2012.
2. Steve Smith – 22 years and 344 days
In 2012, Steve Smith, an Australian cricket player, became the captain of Pune Warriors India for a match against RCB instead of the usual captain Sourav Ganguly. Pune Warriors were already out of the competition, but under Smith’s leadership, they lost another match. Despite that, Smith, who was 22 years and 344 days old at the time, almost matched the record of Virat Kohli from the previous year, becoming the second youngest captain in IPL history.
ALSO READ: Top 5 IPL Captains with Highest Win Percentage
3. Suresh Raina – 23 years and 112 days
Suresh Raina, a key player for CSK, got to be the team captain for a few matches in IPL 2010 because MS Dhoni got injured and couldn’t play for a week. Raina led the team well and they won against Delhi Daredevils but then lost to Punjab and RCB.
However, Raina had to step down when Dhoni got better, and Dhoni later led CSK to win their first IPL title that season. Raina was the youngest IPL captain ever at that time, but later Virat Kohli became the youngest captain the next season.
4. Shreyas Iyer – 23 years and 142 days
In the middle of the 2018 IPL season, Shreyas Iyer became the captain of Delhi Capitals, taking over from Gautam Gambhir. In his first game as captain, he scored a quick and impressive 93 runs not out in just 40 balls against KKR, ending his team’s three-game losing streak.
At 23 years and 142 days old, Iyer became the youngest captain in Delhi Capitals’ history and the fourth youngest ever in the IPL. His success with Delhi Capitals led to him being made the permanent captain of KKR when he joined them in 2022.
5. Rishabh Pant – 23 years and 288 days
After doing really well in his first games for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, Rishabh Pant got chosen to be the team’s leader for the whole 2021 season because the regular captain, Shreyas Iyer, got injured. He started as captain in the first match of the season against MS Dhoni’s team in Mumbai when he was 23 years and 288 days old.
Pant became the second youngest captain for Delhi Capitals and the fifth youngest in IPL history. In his first game as captain, his team won by seven wickets, and he led them to finish in the top four teams by the end of the season.
ALSO READ: Top 5 IPL players who have never played for their home franchise
6. Shubman Gill – 24 years and 198 days
After playing really well for Gujarat Titans for two seasons, Shubman Gill became the captain of the team for the IPL 2024 season. This happened because the previous captain, Hardik Pandya, left suddenly. Gill got to be the captain in the first game of the season, which was against a team led by Pandya himself, the Mumbai Indians. On that day, Gill was 24 years and 198 days old, making him one of the youngest captains in IPL history.
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